Si j'étais roi (English: If I Were King) is an opéra-comique in three acts by Adolphe Adam. The libretto was written by Adolphe d'Ennery and Jules-Henri Brésil. It was first performed in Paris at the Théâtre Lyrique (Théâtre-Historique, Boulevard du Temple) on 4 September 1852, opening with a dual cast to allow performance on successive evenings (it made up half of all performances at the Théâtre Lyrique in the last four months of the year and re...
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Si j'étais roi (English: If I Were King) is an opéra-comique in three acts by Adolphe Adam. The libretto was written by Adolphe d'Ennery and Jules-Henri Brésil. It was first performed in Paris at the Théâtre Lyrique (Théâtre-Historique, Boulevard du Temple) on 4 September 1852, opening with a dual cast to allow performance on successive evenings (it made up half of all performances at the Théâtre Lyrique in the last four months of the year and reached over 170 performances in its first ten years). The production was considered lavish, with expensive costumes and jewels being worn by the cast.
It was then staged in Brussels (1853), New Orleans (1856), Turin (1858) and Soerabaya (1864).
The story is about a young fisherman in Goa who rescues a young woman from drowning. When he discovers that she is a princess, he dreams of becoming a king so that he could be worthy of marrying her. The real king grants this wish and he is taken to the palace for one day, during which he manages to win...
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